Kagawa

Travel Guide

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Best Events

• Festivals

  

  • Kotohiragu Shrine Festival

• Cherry Blossom

  

  • Kotohiragu Shrine
  • Kotohiki Park

• Fireworks Festivals

  

  • Sanuki Takamatsu Festival Fireworks Display
  • Marugame Basara Festival Fireworks Display

Top Things to do

• Ritsurin Garden (designated Special Place of Scenic Beauty)

  4.5

  1553 Reviews

  Kagawa Pref. Takamatsushi Ritsurinchou 1-20-16

  Situated in the eastern foothills of Shiun-zan (Mt. Shiun), Ritsurin Garden was formerly the garden of a daimyo (feudal lord), and is now a designated Special Place of Scenic Beauty. Of the gardens in Japan that are designated as Special Places of Scenic Beauty, this is one of the largest. The Garden comprises the North Garden, which was completed in modern times, and the South Garden, which features a circuitous path round a pond. With the verdant greenery of Mt. Shiun as a backdrop, the Ritsurin Garden is beautifully laid out, with six ponds and thirteen artificial hills; in every season (spring, summer, autumn and winter) the garden has its own unique majesty. There are a number of places to stop and rest within the garden, including the Higurashi-tei teahouse and the Ritsurin-an shop, which sells local specialty products from various parts of Kagawa Prefecture. The garden can be reached by bus from JR Takamatsu Station; get off at the “Ritsurin Garden” stop.

• Roadside Station Shodoshima Olive Park

  4.0

  428 Reviews

  Kagawa Pref. Shouzugunshoudoshimachou Nishimura A: 1941-1

  This rest area is located within Shodoshima Olive Park in Shodoshima Town, Shodoshima County, Kagawa Prefecture. About 2,000 olive trees and over 130 types of herbs are cultivated here, and the park offers an expansive view of the Seto Inland Sea. The pure white “Greek windmill” and other features give the area a distinctly Mediterranean feel. The site includes a cafe with a wonderful view, as well as the “Olive Museum,” which has a shop that offers various olive-themed goods. There’s also an herb garden and the rocket used in the live-action adaptation of “Kiki’s Delivery Service,” along with a natural hot spring, a craft workshop facility, a lodging facility, and more. The cherry blossoms from late March through early April are gorgeous, and there are night cherry blossom light-up events held as well.

• Tamamo Park (Ruins of Takamatsu Castle)

  4.0

  349 Reviews

  Kagawa Pref. Takamatsushi Tamamochou 2-1

  Takamatsu Castle was the residence of the Ikoma family, the lords of Sanuki Province, and subsequently of the Matsudaira clan, the rulers of the Takamatsu domain. Tamamo Park has been created around the Castle ruins. Takamatsu Castle was famous as one of Japan’s three great “water castles.” The Castle’s Ushitorayagura Tower and Tsukimiyagura Tower still survive, along with the Hiunkaku villa and garden, which has been designated as a National Place of Scenic Beauty. With beautiful cherry blossom in the spring, a chrysanthemum exhibition in the autumn, etc., there is plenty to see and do at any time of year.

• Kotohira Onsen Kotosankaku

  4.0

  397 Reviews

  685-11, Kodairacho, Nakatado-gun, Kagawa Prefecture

  A five-minute walk from the front approach to Kotohiragu Shrine, this is one of the largest hot spring inns on Shikoku. They offer a luxurious experience and an elaborate array of baths including a large common bath, an open-air bath, and their famous rose bath. They have a day-use plan for groups of 10 or more.

• Twenty-Four Eyes Movie Studio

  4.0

  262 Reviews

  Kagawa Pref. Shouzugunshoudoshimachou Tanoura

  This is a theme park that has repurposed the open set that served as the filming location in the 1987 movie Twenty-Four Eyes. Homes, the school and fishermen’s residences that stand side-by-side harken back to the early Showa period and convey the appearance of the film’s world. In addition to the Tsuboi Sakae Memorial Museum dedicated to the author of the novel the film was based on, the Shochikuza Movie Theater that regularly screens Twenty-Four Eyes, and the “Kinema no Iori” gallery that introduces various Japanese films of the 1950s, there is also a restaurant and cafe on site.

• Shikoku Mura open-air museum

  4.0

  168 Reviews

  Kagawa Pref. Takamatsushi Yashimanakamachi 91

  Shikoku Mura (“Shikoku Village”) is an open-air museum located about 20 minutes’ drive to the east of JR Takamatsu Station. The exhibits include traditional farmhouses from various parts of Shikoku (dating from the Edo and Meiji periods) that were moved and re-erected here, as well as traditional public buildings such as a village kabuki stage, and several traditional industrial facilities that have been designated as Important Cultural Properties, including a traditional sugar-cane processing facility. The Shikoku Mura Gallery located on the museum site exhibits a wide range of artworks, from European paintings to Oriental sculptures, etc.

• Zentsuji Temple

  4.5

  184 Reviews

  Kagawa Pref. Zentsujishi Zentsujichou 3-3-1

  Zentsuji Temple is the grand head temple of the Shingon sect Zentsuji school, located in Zentsuji City, Kagawa Prefecture. It is the 75th temple of the Shikoku 88-temple Pilgrimage. The area where the temple stands is known as the birthplace of Kobo Daishi (Kukai), and he himself built the temple over a period of six years from 807 with the aid of donations from his father. The temple is noted as one of the three holy sites linked to Kobo Daishi and has drawn worshipers since the olden days. Within the vast temple grounds are housed National Treasures relating to Kobo Daishi and numerous Important Cultural Properties. Saiin, or the Western Temple, is called the birthplace temple and it is here where visitors will find the ordination platform revered as the place of Kobo Daishi’s birth.

• Temple No. 84, Yashimaji Temple

  4.0

  167 Reviews

  Kagawa Pref. Takamatsushi Yashimahigashimachi 1808

  The Yashima-ji Temple is an Omuro-sect Shingon Buddhist temple in Takamatsu City. It is the 84th temple visited on the Shikoku 88-temple Pilgrimage, and is said to have been founded by the monk Ganjin in 754. The Yashima-ji Temple has several Important Cultural Properties, including the Hon-do hall and the temple bell, as well as a wooden statue of a seated Senju Kannon (Goddess of Mercy) which is the main object of veneration in the temple and which can be viewed in the Homotsu-kan (Treasure Hall). Other artifacts on display in the Homotsu-kan include an illustrated scroll of the Genpei Josuiki (an extended version of the Heike Monogotari, or “Tale of the Heike”), a white banner of the Genji clan, and a folding screen painting of the Battle of Yashima.

• Konpira Grand Theatre (Kanamaru-za)

  4.5

  184 Reviews

  Kogaira-cho, Nakadatsu-gun, Kagawa Prefecture 1241

  This theater, located in Kotohira, Nakatado County, Kagawa Prefecture, is the oldest extant theater in Japan. It was built in 1835 as a playhouse for providing regular entertainment to believers in the seafaring deity Konpira, who had many followers in the Edo period. In 1970, it was designated a National Important Cultural Property. For four years beginning in 1972, it was restored and reconstructed in its present location, and it exudes the style and chic of the typical Edo period theater at the time. Every April, the “Shikoku Konpira Grand Kabuki Performance” is held, which attracts many kabuki fans from outside the prefecture.